It is suspected that the members of this organized criminal group in 2023 May. 17 books of great historical and cultural significance, worth about 440 thousand, were stolen from the library of VšĮ Vilnius University’s Rare Reading Room and Professor’s Reading Room. euros.
According to available data, these persons also stole valuable books from libraries in France, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Switzerland.
During the operation, 4 suspects were arrested – citizens of Sakartwell, 27 searches were carried out, during which about 150 books were taken, one of them was stolen from a French library, the others will be investigated to determine whether they were stolen from the libraries of other European countries. The actions of the international operation were coordinated by Eurojust and Europol officers.
The data collected during the investigations allow us to reasonably assume that the members of the group stole the books in several ways. Sometimes they used false identities, posing as researchers when ordering books from libraries. While some members of the group interacted with library staff to distract them, other suspects replaced the stolen books with their forgeries. In other cases, gang members would simply break into libraries and steal books they had already checked out beforehand.
Considering the fact that the libraries of different countries suffered from the members of the criminal group, Eurojust from 2023 in November coordinated the actions of prosecutors and officers investigating crimes in different countries, provided assistance in exchanging data. In order to identify the persons who committed the crimes, a joint investigation group was created, in which Europol officers also participated. On the Day of Law Enforcement Actions, a coordination center for the coordination of actions was established at Eurojust.
About 100 police officers participated in the operation, including 4 representatives of the Lithuanian police.
The pre-trial investigation into the theft of valuables of great historical and cultural significance (according to Article 178 d. 4 of the Criminal Code) from the Vilnius University library continues, it is organized and controlled by the prosecutor of the Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation is carried out by the officers of the Chief Police Commissariat of Vilnius County.
Tags: Persons stole valuable books European libraries arrested international law enforcement operation
